Jardin d'Hiver #1
Comment peut-on être (du village d’à côté) persan (martien)?

A new platform for the region’s contemporary art scene: first edition of the inaugural Jardin d’Hiver biennial showcasing the work of invited artists. Under the direction of the art critic and freelance curator Jill Gasparina, this show makes the principle of collage its own.

To the question “What is the contemporary Vaudois art scene?” the show Comment peut-on être (du village d’à côté) persan (martien)? and its puzzling title, which flirts with science fiction – literally “How one can be (from the nearby village) Persian (Martian)?” – offers an answer by in fact raising other questions with visitors. How do several generations of artists engage in a dialogue? How do different eras respond to each other? Does the physical and geographic environment influence art production? What role do independent art spaces play in the institutional ecosystem? How does one, finally, hold together art practices that only have in common the place they emerged from?

By articulating what is close and what is distant, the title also broaches the question of the relationship to a place, its landscapes and institutions, the very question that lies at the heart of the show. Instead of an exhaustive portrait of the art scene in Vaud, the exhibition has been conceived organically and collectively, bringing together artists and art spaces that have themselves occasionally extended an invitation to others. Different pieces and scales coexist on the collage principle, the only one capable of faithfully transcribing the great chaos that an art scene truly is, that strange phenomenon made up of interactions and hospitality, friendships and rivalries, collectives and solitude, homages and alliances.

Exhibition curator: Jill Gasparina
Scenography consultant: Olivier Vadrot